Book Reviews – Page 7 – Japanese Sewing, Pattern, Craft Books and Fabrics

Bags or Zakka Sewing Patterns Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Magazines

Book Review – Sewing and Crochet magazine

February 6, 2015

I picked up the crocheting bug a few years ago when looking for winter patterns. Crocheting is a very therapeutic hobby and very portable as well since you can’t lug a sewing machine everywhere you go. So when I saw this new magazine – Sewing & Crochet, I knew I had to get it since it combines both of my favorite crafting activities!

You can see that it’s a relatively new magazine, vol. 2. I bought this magazine in December when it was still new, but never had the time to review it. By this time I am publishing this post, vol. 3 should already be released, but no matter, let’s have a look at what this magazine is all about before we decide whether or not to buy the next one!

The magazine kicks off with the sewing projects, lots of bags. The cover did mention that the feature for this issue will be granny bags. So we will see lots of them in different variations.

A granny bag with a leather base and lots of pockets

Round base Granny bag

Plump granny bag

Mother’s Bag (I guess that just means a huge bag or a diaper bag)

Going for a walk Granny’s Bag

Mini bags! Tote, Granny, Drawstring versions. Great for holding small change or small items that can easily get lost in your big bag.

Pouches and small items made with snap buttons

Synthetic leather x Fabric accordion pouch

You can make this accordian pouch with all fabric instead, but when using fabric only, use a thick interfacing to give it more structure.

Key case

Round strap Key holder

Interesting idea and pattern for a bag. Using leather straps and rivets. I suppose it adds to the strength as well?

Other than sewing patterns for bags. There is also a pattern for a wrap dress, with a complete step by step sewing lesson with full color photographs.

There are also a couple of warm weather sewing projects, such as this neck warmer,

Room shoes

More sewing of small accessories like this detachable pocket pouch. Usually seen in kids magazines but sized up for adults. Adults will find this useful too!

Some felt projects are included as well…

Matryoshka doll felt keyholders! Too cute!

Travel pass case in the shape of a luggage.

Moving on to the crochet section of the book, we start off with a simple cover for umbrella handles.

Some of the basic crochet techniques are covered with step by step photographs, like the above which shows you how to make a magic circle/ring for the start of the base of a bag/tube. This eliminates the hole in the base that you will find when using the traditional starting chain ring technique. Very useful and necessary for making Amigurumi patterns.

What’s a Japanese crochet book without Amigurumi patterns! According to wikipedia, these are crocheted stuffed animals and this term is a combination of the Japanese terms for crochet and stuffed animals. The trademark aesthetic is cuteness.(of course!) In this issue, learn to make some cute woodland animals like the squirrel, bear and rabbit. Can you also tell that the 3 animals have a similar shaped body? There are actually hidden plastic clothes pegs in each of them, so that you can use them as clips for holding namecaards, or attaching to your bags, or even to a stroller strap for a baby to play with.

Other than Amigurumi patterns, there are also some practical crochet items for decorating the house, like these comfy looking chair pads.

As this magazine was published in November, there was also a section on decorating with sewing and crochet projects for Christmas. Christmas is over but I can keep these patterns for next year I guess!

Love this multi-color crochet ribbon wreath. It’s made of multiple ribbon bows. Will be a great use of wool scraps.

Make a triangular Christmas tree. Step by step instructions included.

Most of the crochet patterns , with the exception of those detailed in photographs, are in diagrams such as this. Having learned my crocheting entirely on youtube 😛 I must confess that I do not know how to read these diagrams! There is however, a very detailed and enlarged glossary of terms as well as the corresponding stitch symbol, at the back of the book. The most commonly used ones are

くさり編み – chain stitch
細編み – Single crochet
長編み – Double crochet
中長編み – Half double crochet

There were many more projects that I did not show here because there were just too many! If you like both sewing and crochet just like me, you will love this magazine. I’m looking forward to the next issue for more Spring sewing ideas.

Title : Sewing & Crochet Vol. 2
ISBN : 978-4-86322-586-2
Publisher : パッチワーク通信社

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Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Books Japanese Sewing Magazines Kids Sewing Patterns

Book Review – Cotton Friend Kids

January 30, 2015

Before the excitement of receiving all the English translated books over the past few weeks, I had accumulated a number of Japanese sewing books that I’ve been wanting to share with you. I thought I had better review this before the season is over!

Cotton Friend Kids! is a special edition from the Cotton Friend magazine. Most Cotton Friend magazines are adult oriented with some matching patterns for kids. This special edition is the complete opposite. This magazine focuses on patterns for kids (both boys and girls), and a few matching patterns for Mum.

All the projects included in this book!

Before we begin, let’s look at the sizes included. There are 2 size charts. Sizes included are S-LL for the adults (top chart) and 100-130cm for kids (bottom chart)
and the measurements are for (in order of left to right)
Bust / Waist / Hip / Back length / Sleeve length / Rise / Inseam / Height
all measurements in cm

The book starts out with a series of matching outfits for Mom and Kids. The awesome thing about this book, and probably due to the fact that it’s actually more of a magazine with advertisements, all the fabric sources are listed.

A cropped sleeve tunic dress with a tie front.

Tunic with elastic gathers made using the new cotton sateen range from Echino.

Tunic dress/top with pleats

Simple coat (without lining) made with fluffy wool knit and enclosed with snap buttons.

Wrap apron made with Cotton+Steel fabric

Matching skirts for Mom and Daughter

The next section features a basic tunic pattern, and how you can make simple modifications to it to make various outfits.

The above two outfits were shown in different fabrics in the Mom & daughter section

A blouse length version of the basic pattern. The fabric is too cute!!! Double gauze fabric with blue raindrops on a chocolate background. See more color options of this fabric here

For this basic pattern, there is a 6-page tutorial with full colored photographs that show you every step of the making progress.

Close up of the photos

A Liberty x Hello Kitty special. It’s not the first time Liberty prints have featured Hello Kitty, but this range was created for the 40th anniversary of Hello Kitty. The blouse above is a round neck blouse with gathered sleeves and lots and lots of frills on the front (you will need 1.4-1.7m of fabric for this blouse alone!) That’s like a really expensive blouse!

There are also matching collared shirts for Mom and daugther.

Close up of the Mom’s shirt. This is my favourite print of all the 40th anniversary prints. This print is called Hatsune Garland.

There are also patterns for accessories made using the same fabric. Which is great given that the fabrics are so expensive. I may be better off buying a small fat quarter and making accessories out of it instead.

The next section is on stylish Autumn & Winter outfits. I know Autumn has long passed, but still valid for Winter yes? 🙂

These cute hood jacket and vest are made using nylon quilt fabric.

Another tunic style dress, but I like it because of the fabric – Autumn Woods by Moda Japan.

These hooded parkas are made using waterproof nylon and have a slit opening in front. The front of the jacket is a high neck enclosure with velcro for easy wearing.

Some straight sewing patterns – read – no pattern tracing yay! Love the cute fabric on the top by the way, it’s from Brita Sweden RUT in 05 Pink.

Fashionable knickerbockers pants for kids

The next section is on sewing accessories with Animal motif prints

Panda Tote bags using fabric from Finlayson

Detachable pocket pouch made with Walk through the forest – grizzly bear print

Make a cute pair of ear muffs (I don’t quite see the animal motif/design in this one :P) and turn an ordinary pair of mittens into cute little kitten mittens!

The next section is a really cute idea. I have actually bought fleece blankets for sewing projects, as they come with super soft textures and prints that are cuter than those you can find off the bolt. These fluffy blankets come in sizes of 100cm x 70cm, made of fluffy fleece and are already quilted. The two vests above are ingeniously placed cut so that the binding around the blankets doubles up as the binding on the vest, so the only bias you have to sew are around the armholes and neckline.

Option 2 – make a hooded poncho. However, this particular pattern requires two pieces of blanket. One for the main body and one for the hood. You will be left with quite a lot of excess material from the piece used for the hood though. But you can always make a matching pair of socks or mittens or something?

Some more cute accessories for kids – detachable pocket pouch (above)

Hair accessories for girls

Elastic detachable tie perfect for little boys

How-to-make

With the exception of the full color step by step photos tutorials, the rest of the patterns are presented as above, in diagrams with color prints to indicate the orientation of the fabric.

Close up of the instructions

There are 2 sheets (4 sides) of patterns included. Note that there are many other projects using straightline sewing in the book, for those you have to construct your own patterns. But they are usually simple rectangles with slight deviations and are easy to make.

Title : Cotton Friend Kids! 2014-2015 Autumn Winter
ISBN : 978-4-8347-3885-8
Publisher : Boutique Sha

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Book Reviews Girls Sewing Patterns Japanese Sewing Books in English

Girly Style Wardrobe – Now in English

January 17, 2015

Yay! Another book by Yoshiko Tsukiori has been translated to English by Laurence King. This time it’s for the girls. We’ve seen many of her adult sewing books being translated to English, but Yoshiko Tsukiori has authored many books for girls as well. I was so excited to hear that this was translated to English and even more excited when Laurence King sent me a copy for review. This particular book was one of the first books I bought when I first started sewing for my girls. It was first published in 2007 which is like 7 years ago??!! Brings back lots of memories….

The original Japanese version on the right.

The English edition has remained true to the original, with the addition of the following two pages below (located at the back of the book)

I like this better because you can tell at a glance, what patterns are included in this book.

As stated on the front cover, there are 28 patterns for girls’ sizes 100cm-140cm

As with all translated versions, the main measurements are in inches and the cm equivalents in brackets. The size chart even has a US/UK size guide chart which is a pretty useful estimate if you are sewing for someone else as a gift and can’t get hold the actual body measurements without spoiling the surprise.

Now let’s take a look at the garments you can make in this book. Before we start I must confess that I bought the book because I loved the photography and prop styling in this book! You can hardly tell this book was first published in 2007. Many of the garments were also made using Liberty prints and you can see how well both the pattern designs as well as the fabrics themselves have stood up to the test of time.

a – tunic with patch pockets
The shoulder straps are actually separate straps (like rabbit ears) tied to form bows.

b – box pleat tunic
The box pleat adds to the roominess of the garment, making it both easy and comfortable to wear. The neckline is finished with a pretty ribbon bow tie.

c – box-pleat dress
This is the longer dress version of the box-pleat tunic, and this particular dress is made in lightweight wool. As the armholes and neckhole is pretty roomy, this serves as a great layer-on dress for cold winter days.

d – bolero and skirt (skirt is shown on top in the picture below)
I just love the pretty bolero with a ribbon tie (she was really into ribbon ties then wasn’t she?) and also the girly ruffles on the flared sleeves.
The skirt features tucks in the front and a elastic waistband in the back for easy wearing. The contrast bias is made with gingham fabric.

e – layered skirt.
This skirt is pretty much the same as the skirt in d, but there is an additional layer below, made with the same floral fabric used for the waistband and pocket bias binding.

f – Square neck blouse with pin-tucks.
This is a really sweet blouse with pin-tucks on the front of the blouse. The book recommended the use of striped fabric to make it easier for folding the pin-tucks. If you have ever made pin-tucks, you will know how difficult it is to be completely precise, so yes using a striped fabric does make it much easier. But you can make this in solid fabric as well. This will make a really sweet and versatile piece in a white cotton fabric don’t you think?

g – camisole.
Something cool and easy to wear for warmer days. Hey, ribbon ties again! 🙂 I do love the fabric combination don’t you? This top is pretty and girly with the gingham ribbon ties and ruffles at the hem.

h- A-line dress
A simple A-line dress is a staple piece in every girl’s wardrobe. The cap sleeves allow lots of room for movement and will be lovely for a play dress. One of those dresses that your girls will wear over and over again since it is so comfortable. Oh, and guess what? The back closes with a ribbon tie!

i – cap-sleeve dress
Another wardrobe staple as well as a pattern staple. I must have made more than a dozen of these bodice+skirt dresses in both sleeveless and sleeved versions. This version is with cap sleeves. With a basic pattern like this, you can create a casual or formal look depending on your choice of fabric. In the example above (in Liberty print no less), the dress is jazzed up with a lace band to the yoke.

j – winter dress
A long sleeve version of the cap sleeve dress. Similar in construction except for material (this version is using lightweight wool), and the elastic cuffs giving it a nice puff sleeve look. This will look gorgeous in a more formal fabric, and can definitely be adapted to a formal occasion dress for a little girl!

k – bell sleeve blouse
Similar to a peasant blouse, this is another easy to wear top that your little girl will love. The above is made in lightweight wool and will be perfect for cold weather. But if you use a cotton lawn or linen, it will be perfect for summer days as well. The back is enclosed using loops and buttons (yay! no zips), and there are even instructions on how to make the thread loop in the proper manner using chain stitch over two strands of embroidery floss. Together with this outfit, there is also a pattern for a simple pair of pants with an elastic waistband and drawstrings detail on the cuffs.

l – smock
I looked up the definition of a smock. A smock is meant to be an outer garment, for protecting your clothes while you are playing or working. Really? I can hardly bear to use this pretty piece as in place of an apron. This square neck smock in lightweight wool has a decorative ribbon sewn along the neckline for added style.

m – smock dress
A dress variation of the smock (l) with ruffle sleeves and the addition of a patch pocket. A wide lace band runs around the neckline and the top opening of the pocket.

n – open neck blouse, cap and pants
Don’t you love it when you get patterns for the entire outfit as-shown? The postboy cap (is that what it’s called?) is too cute. I’m sure lots of you mummies of boys will want to steal this pattern just for the cap. The pants is a basic elastic waistband pattern, but with practical box pleat pockets running along the side seams. The open neck blouse itself is super easy to wear since there is no enclosure but a front slit opening. Lovely for layering over a camisole or on its own on hot days.

o – clasp purse and pants
The book title says Girly Style Wardrobe, so of course a girl must have a little girly purse to carry her little trinkets around. This pattern is for a metal clasp purse with instructions on how to attach the metal clasp (sewn-on type) to the fabric purse.

p – ribbon-tie skirt
A simple layered skirt with an elastic waistband for easy wearing and a ribbon tie detail on the front.

q – parka and tiered skirt
A hooded parka made in wool, enclosed in the front using snap buttons instead of a zip, embellished with a wide lace band around the hood and the top opening of the patch pockets. As for the skirt, it is made up of 3 tiers, with a 1cm wide ribbon sewn on in between the tiers, and a ribbon tie detail in between the top two tiers.

r – wrap dress
This dress was made in wool, with a wrap-top effect on the front yoke, and wool lace added all around the neckline and hem. The back encloses with a zip, and there are graphical instructions for attaching a zip properly. There is also an additional pattern for a drawstring pouch made using the same leftover fabric.

s – puff sleeve dress
A vintage style dresses with puff sleeves. Love the sweet sweet fabric on this one!

t – dress with ruffle hem
This dress is super girly with lots of ruffles and gathers. Ruffles along the sleeves, gathers along the waist and ruffles along the hem. This is not a two layer skirt, but the ruffles are sewn attached to the hem. The added ruffles will make the skirt stand out more and I know fir a fact that little girls love to twirl in such skirts!

How to make

The how to make section includes the usual material list, instructions, cutting layout diagrams. You may find that the text instructions are really short and sweet, and you will realize why this is so if you refer to the original book in Japanese.

The original instructions are that simple! Straight to the point, and rather minimalistic. But it’s perfectly fine since the steps are illustrated in diagrams which are very detailed and easy to understand.

The diagrams in the Japanese version.

Patterns are conveniently enclosed in a plastic envelope attached to the back cover of the book.

slip
There is one last pattern which was not labelled, which was not fully shown on any page except the back cover, for a slip dress that can be used under dress S (the vintage puff sleeve dress). The length is designed for the white ruffles to peek out under dress S. As this is meant to be a slip, there are no zip/button enclosures but a wide neckline and large armholes, for easy slipping on and off.

I hope you are as excited about this new book as I am! Get yours today!

Title : Girly Style Wardrobe
Author : Yoshiko Tsukiori
ISBN No. : 978-1780674094

This book will be released 3rd February on Amazon but is now available for pre-order. Those of you in UK or Europe can also purchase it from Laurence King’s website, it’s already in stock and there’s free UK delivery.

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Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Books in English Ladies Sewing Patterns

Book Review – Casual Sweet Clothes

January 6, 2015

Happy New Year everyone! A little late in the year for greetings maybe but this is my first post of the year!

Today I’m going to share with you a recently translated Japanese Sewing Book called Casual Sweet Clothes – Favourite Pieces for Every Day.

This book was actually released in August last year and somehow fell off my “sewing books radar” 😛

Luckily for me, the very kind folks at Laurence King sent me a copy for review, and so I’m here to share with you the lovely pieces from the book! The patterns in this book are designed by Noriko Sasahara, who is a Fashion Design graduate of Bunka Fashion College.

There are 18 patterns in all, Labelled A-R. The contents page is arranged by the order of appearance in the book, in some cases you will see the same garments featured again as co-ordinates paired together to form a complete outfit. Just to give you an idea of how to put the whole wardrobe together.

Now let’s have a look at the pretty pieces!

A- Dress with Ruffle Shoulder Detail. A simple shift made feminine by the light ruffles running along the shoulder seams. This dress pictured is made in light cotton chambray.

A combination of 2 patterns. C- Jersey top with cape sleeves (seen here in cotton and linen jersey knit) and P – a Layered lace skirt. Not my favourite way of paring them together. I would love to see the Jersey top with a pair of jeans and the lace skirt with a simple strappy camisole?

D – Jewel-neck Jacket with Bow. When I read this, I was wondering “what is a Jewel-neck?” Then I found the answer on Google. Apparently it’s a round neckline, quite similar to the boat neck but just falls above the collarbone. It’s so named because the cut helps to accentuate or showcase a piece of jewellery against the fabric. I learned something new today!

E – Another very sweet and feminine piece, a Lace-trimmed camisole. The ribbon belt is not an add on, but actually part of the design. The ribbon goes through a casing at the back of the camisole, and helps to gather the fabric in the back when you pull it together and tie it up in the front.

F – Casual pants with ribbon belt (with 2 side pockets). It’s hard to see from the picture but there is also a grosgrain ribbon binding the edge of the side pockets and running down along the side seams. Fabric used for the pants is Water-repellent cotton garbadine.

G – Lace-front blouse. If you are not keen on adding the lace panels, you can omit them, as the blouse itself is a very pretty blouse pattern with gathers both around the shoulder seams as well as the cuffs. I can imagine this pattern as a starter block for lots of pretty blouses, or even a coat.

H- V-neck shift with double ruffled cuffs. A very easy to wear dress that makes you look slim yet can hide your flaws since it’s not skin-tight. I love the double ruffles on the cuffs. The back of the dress is enclosed with a zipper, and as part of the design it is an exposed zip (in black). I’m not sure if exposed zips are still in vogue but you can decide for yourself if you want to attach it inside or out. It’s good to learn how to sew an exposed zip though, since fashion trends are cyclical and you never know when it will make a comeback.

I – Bolero Vest with Braid Trim, paired with the Casual pants (pattern F) seen earlier.
I love the bolero vest with the contrast braid trim! The position of the braid trim is marked out on the pattern sheets to guide you on its placement.

J – Tiered Pencil Skirt. I can never pull off skirts of this length, but still, can’t help but marvel at how pretty it is. The skirt above is made in cotton sateen which has a bit of sheen, and there are 6 layers of overlapping ruffles.

Here you see the same skirt paired with a flared jacket with raglan sleeves. I can’t quite imagine the two being paired together like this, but I just wanted to show you the pattern for the jacket. It’s a very simple casual jacket with a hood and two external pockets. Both the sleeves and bodice are flared. This will be a useful pattern for a rainy day jacket.

K – Dress with lace-insert sleeves. Another very pretty shift dress with gathers along the shoulder seams of the front bodice. The sleeves are made of separate front and back pieces so that you can sew a piece of lace in between for a little peekaboo effect. The back is enclosed using a concealed zipper. I can see this in a shorter blouse version as well, or a different fabric for a less formal look.

N – Denim Jacket with Braided Detail. The braided detail is made using 3 strips of denim and sewn all around the front and collar. There are no buttons on the front of the jacket though. The braided denim is attached using a blindstitch according to the instructions. By that I suppose it means you have to hand sew it?

O – Flounced-edge jacket. A short cropped jacket with a pretty flounced edge that goes all around the edges. The main jacket body itself is made of 2 front pieces, one back piece and 2 side pieces. The sleeves are also made of two parts each, a top sleeve and an under sleeve. The extra seams help with the shaping of the jacket and gives it a more structured look.

R – Round-neck coat with turn-up cuffs. This is actually from a similar pattern to pattern N – the denim braided jacket, but with a round collar and this coat is longer, almost to knee length. The cuffs can be worn folded down or up.

Now for some technical details….

The sizes in this book include XS-L, and will fit the following body measurements.

Note that the measurements are in inches, with their cm equivalents indicated in brackets.

A typical layout of the how-to-make page. Do also note that the seam allowances are not included in the pattern sheets, but have to be added on as indicated on the cutting layout diagram (bottom right diagram). Where it is not stipulated, use 1cm for seam allowance.

In one corner of the page, note that there is a Finished Measurements table. This gives you an idea of the size of the finished garment so that you can select the right size or choose whether or not to make length adjustments before cutting out your fabric.

A close up of the diagrams included.

There are 2 pages on the back teaching you how to adjust the dress and sleeve lengths properly.

The patterns are stored in a plastic pocket attached to the back cover. There are two full size pattern sheets, printed on both sides.

Title : Casual Sweet Clothes
Author : Noriko Sasahara
ISBN No :978-1-78067-173-4

Now available from amazon

I really love the pieces in this book, especially the fact that they are mostly easy to wear and can be made casual or formal depending on the fabric choice. There are many books that have simple shift dresses but tend to look shapeless or baggy. Not in this book. The subtle accents like gathers around shoulder seams, added ruffles or lace panels really ups the style factor. I hope you liked this book as much as I did! I will be back next week with another soon to be released English book review. This time for girls, so stay tuned!

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Bags or Zakka Sewing Patterns Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Books in English

Book Review – Handmade Bags in Natural Fabrics (Now in English)

November 21, 2014

Christmas is around the corner, and if you are thinking of making some handmade gifts, this book will help you make some one-of-a-kind Christmas presents! You can even buy this book as a Christmas present for someone crafty!

This book has been translated to English by the lovely folks at Tuttle Publishing (Yay!) and is all about handmade bags, by Emiko Takahashi, who is more well-known in the sewing “circle” for promoting hand-sewing. Most of her book published (she has published 76 books according to her website!!!) are hand-sewing books. She has published books not only on making bags and small goods, but also adult and kids wear. Yup! All Hand sewn! You can have a quick look at all her books here.

This book includes easy patterns and instructions for hand-sewing, so it will be great for beginners or those who do not have a sewing machine. Naturally you can speed things up a little and make these bags using a sewing machine as well, then add on your hand-stitched details for a personalized touch.

This book includes 60 Easy-to-make Purses, Totes, and More. Do note that out of the 60 projects, a few of them are multiple design variations of the same pattern, e.g. different embellishments on the same bag pattern. Patterns are included unless the design is based a simple rectangle, in which case you will only need to measure out the dimensions of the rectangle and cut accordingly. There are no complex curves construction/drafting required. All patterns that require anything other than a rectangle will be provided in the pull out pattern sheet.

The projects are divided into Shopping Bags, Everyday Bags, Fashion Bags, 2 Sewing Lessons (with full color step by step photographs) and everything else you need to know about hand sewing (basic stitches for construction + fancy stitches for decoration) and bag making (interfacing, handles, attachments etc). Let’s now have a look at some of my favourite projects in the book!

Spruce up your weekly grocery trip with a pretty shopping bag… I love the combination of knit fabric with tweed!

This is a really interesting foldable shopping basket bag. Quick and easy to shop and go!

Foldable Eco bag for carrying around as a spare shopping bag, you never know when you are going shopping! 🙂

These are both reversible bags. Both bags have round bases which make them nice and roomy.

These tote bags have a gusset base for a more roomy and spacious bag.

Flat totes are great for carrying around lesson books, document files or just as little bags for the little ones.

A lunch tote. Simply love the matching of light blue gingham check fabric with the pale leather handles.

A great beginner hand sewing project.This is a simple drawstring purse that you can quickly whip up as a present. A great choice when you need to make multiple gifts since all the different design variations provided will mean each and every purse is unique. Lovely way to make use of scrap fabric as well!

A sweet and dainty bag with a purse frame and crocheted handle.

A really delicate looking bag made with cotton voile, embellished with lace, and glass beads. The strap is made from lace as well.

Make a sturdy bag with zip enclosure with a leather handle and matching leather flower embellishments.

Very quirky and interesting Vase shaped bag that will be a great conversation topic.

Tucked bag with corsage.

As mentioned above, there are two detailed sewing lessons included in the book. The lessons are for the Flat bag, but it also comes with instructions on sewing a Gusset (which converts your Flat bag into a Gusset bag). The other sewing lesson is for hand sewing the little drawstring purse.